Ford, IBM working on transport analytics initiative
Tue 12 Jan 2016
American car maker Ford has teamed up with IBM to work on a pilot platform which seeks to help consumers make better transportation decisions, by delivering detailed analytics to researchers identifying patterns in the market.
The platform, known as the Ford Smart Mobility Experimentation Platform, already runs behind the auto company’s Dynamic Shuttle pilot programme, which is now in operation on Ford’s Dearborn campus in Michigan.
The firms suggest that the tool will be able to help users make more efficient decisions when driving. It will be able to search for near-by available parking spots, or advise of a faster method of transport should the driver be stuck in traffic.
The platform will be powered by IBM’s streaming analytics cloud, allowing for continuous updates. This real-time capability, IBM claims, will enable the platform to immediately learn of transport problems, such as underground delays.
Rich Strader, director of enterprise and emerging information technology at Ford, explained: “Ford’s Smart Mobility Experimentation Platform takes huge amounts of information and breaks it down to help consumers have better travel experiences.”
At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week, Ford noted that data and analytics would play a key role in its Smart Mobility initiative and would help it reach the next level in connectivity, autonomous vehicles, and customer experience.
Ford has announced that 25 mobility projects will launch this year around the world to test emerging transport ideas, more flexible user models and social collaboration.
“Even as we showcase connected cars and share our plans for autonomous vehicles, we are here at CES with a higher purpose,” said Ford President and CEO Mark Fields. “We are driving innovation in every part of our business to be both a product and mobility company – and, ultimately, to change the way the world moves just as our founder Henry Ford did 111 years ago.”
